The principle of conditionality in the EU’s relations with neighbours: its evolution and reconciliation with the principle of consistency

The essay focuses on the principle of conditionality in the EU relations with third countries falling within the European Neighbourhood Policy. The Union makes the cooperation with these countries (and its development) subject to respect of good governance practices in tax matters, to legislative alignment to the EU acquis and to the efforts to integrate refugees present on their territories in the job market in exchange of tariff preferences. In some cases, the EU acts to protect its interests rather than to promote its values (as in the case of the classic political conditionality). The essays dwells on the compatibility between the mentioned three news forms of conditionality and the principle of consistency to which the EU external action is subject. The conclusion is that the good governance clauses in tax matters are compatible with the principle of consistency given that they can be seen as a way to promote multilateralism. As to the convergence conditionality, this is not only in line with the principle of consistency but it may be considered as a necessary element of the cooperation with countries that aspire to become Members of the European Union. Finally, the compatibility of the migrant integration conditionality (which underlines the Compact with Jordan) with the principle of consistency is doubtful. Indeed, the EU has changed the tariff preferences on goods coming from Jordan on the basis of a mechanism which is overly restrictive and whose implementation is aimed at creating the conditions for Syrians to remain in this country rather than to support Jordan’s economic growth, as provided for by the European neighbourhood policy

The Common Foreign Security Policy after Rosneft: Still imperfect but gradually subject to the rule of law

Il commento riguarda la sentenza Rosneft in cui la Corte di Giustizia riconosce che le giurisdizioni nazionali possono contestare la legittimità delle misure restrittive individuali nell'ambito di un rinvio pregiudiziale sulla validità

Mobility and Legal Migration in the Context of the European Neighbourbood Policy: What Role for the European Union?

The paper examines the evolution of the external dimension of EU immigration policy mainly in the context of European Neighbourhood policy (ENP). The EU is interested in countering irregular migration from Southern neighbours rather than in facilitating legal migration for third country nationals. The latter field falls within the competence of the EU Member States and they are reluctant to open legal migration channels. Only recently Mobility Partnerships (MPs) have been concluded with Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan. Most recently, the EU has decided to financially support countries of origin/transit in order to strengthen their capacity to tackle migration pressure; migration compacts will be negotiated not only with Southern neighbours but also with other African countries. In contrast to Southern neighbours, MPs were agreed with all Eastern neighbours, except Belarus; readmission agreements and visa-free agreements were concluded with three Eastern neighbour countries: Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. The EU has fostered mobility and people-to-people movements in its relations with Eastern neighbours but the added value of EU legislation designed to favour legal migration and integration of third country nationals remain limited. The conclusion is that the EU continues to be a «fortress», especially for low-skilled migrants seeking an employment

The Rationale and the Perils of Failing to Invoke State Responsibility for Cyber-Attacks: The Case of the EU Cyber Sanctions

Malicious cyber activities are on the rise. States and other relevant actors need to constantly adapt to the evolving cyber threat landscape, including by setting up effective deterrence mechanisms. This is what the European Union (EU) has done through the adoption of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Decision 2019/797, which allows it to impose targeted sanctions to deter and respond to cyberattacks that constitute an external threat to the EU or its member states. However, in contrast to other horizontal regimes of restrictive measures in force within the EU, foreign governments are not included as potential targets of cyber sanctions. Moreover, the recital of the Decision specifies that the adoption of restrictive measures does not involve attribution of international responsibility for cyber-attacks to a third State. This article aims at identifying the rationale behind the inclusion of these distinctive features. It starts by considering the legal uncertainty that surrounds attribution of international responsibility for cyber operations. Next, it explains why the EU is not well placed to invoke third-State responsibility, and the reasons behind its reluctance to do so. It will then illustrate the risks inherent in the lack of a clear legal framework to attribute the responsibility of cyber-attacks to third countries. This may have serious consequences in terms of legal certainty when a cyber-attack amounts to a breach of the prohibition on the use of force in international relations. Then, we explore recent developments in EU legislation in the area of cyber security and the possibility to strenghten the powers of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). We draw two conclusions: first, the Union might develop the capacity to attribute cyber attacks to specific actors and there is an interest to do so. However, Member States are probably still reticent to take this step. Two, despite the advantages of establishing a reliable attribution mechanisms, it is submitted that the majority of States prefers to take advantage of a regulative gap that allows them to react to cyber incidents as they see fit

numerical study of flutter stabilization in low pressure turbine rotor with intentional mistuning

Abstract Intentional mistuning concepts are used to mitigate the risk of flutter occurrence for compressor and turbine blades, as this design strategy represents one of the key aspects in nowadays turbomachinery aeroelastic design. In this paper, the effects of a mistuning pattern on LPT flutter stability are numerically investigated in order to highlight the differences with the classic tuned configuration. A LPT rotor is analysed with an intentional mistuning pattern composed by alternate blades with different additional masses at the blade tip, and the corresponding tuned configuration, consisting of the blisk (blade+disk) with identical blades. The first part of this work is devoted to the modal analysis for tuned and mistuned cases. Frequencies and mode shapes of the first bending mode family, obtained by FEM modal analysis in cyclic symmetry, are then used to perform CFD flutter analysis with moving blades. The results confirm the stabilizing effect of alternate mistuning pattern in contrast with the tuned system which denotes a strong flutter instability for a large range of negative nodal diameters. The numerically predicted flutter stabilization effect has been confirmed by measurements carried out during a tip timing experimental campaign performed within the Future EU project

The deprivation of citizenship of foreign terrorist fighters and their family members and the problem of repatriation of these persons through the lens of EU law

This paper explores the intersection of national and EU law in the context of citizenship deprivation and the repatriation of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and their families. Focusing on recent cases of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), it addresses the evolving role that EU law plays in the assessment of the validity of Member States’ decisions to strip individuals of national citizenship. The analysis emphasizes the impact of EU citizenship on the proportionality assessment of such decisions, highlighting the right to free movement and access to EU territory. This is evidenced by a comparison between the law and practice in three countries: the UK, France and Denmark. Additionally, the article underscores the need for a unified EU approach to the repatriation of FTFs and their children. The absence of a common strategy among Member States is identified as a concerning gap in addressing the challenges posed by FTFs. The paper also makes some observations on the relevance of EU law not only for the deprivation, but also for the award of national citizenship, with reference to the so-called ‘golden passport’ cases (also known as citizenship by investment)

Context specific and structural changes in EU restrictive measures adopted in reaction to Russia’s aggression on Ukraine

editorial reviewedSince February 2022, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine has changed the Union under many respects. This article intends to capture the recent developments of the sanctioning practice in response to Russia’s aggression, illustrating important changes in the design, implementation and enforcement of EU restrictive measures. More precisely, a few distinctive aspects will be highlighted with the view to assess whether restrictive measures are subject to ‘context specific’ or ‘structural’ changes. The former are intrinsically linked to the geopolitical circumstances of the war in Ukraine (and will unlikely to be used in other contexts); while the latter have an impact on the EU sanctioning practicetout court. Accordingly, it is argued that the war in Ukraine will, to a certain extent, permanently change how restrictive measures are designed, implemented and enforced at the EU and national level

From tissue invasion to glucose metabolism: the many aspects of Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 pro-oncogenic activities.

AbstractThe pro-oncogenic transcription factor STAT3 is constitutively active in tumours of many different origins, which often become addicted to its activity. STAT3 is believed to contribute to the initial survival of pre-cancerous cells as well as to hyper-proliferation and, later, metastasis.To evaluate the contribution of enhanced STAT3 activation in a controlled model system, we generated knock-in mice in which a mutant constitutively activeConstitutively active STAT3 could enhance the tumorigenic power of the ratSTAT3 can induce a metabolic switch that predisposes cells to aberrant survival, enhanced proliferation and, finally, tumour transformation. Later, enhanced Cten expression contributes to tissue infiltration and metastasis. While not excluding the contribution of many other tumour-specific STAT3 target genes, our data provide a unifying explanation of several pro-oncogenic STAT3 activities.</jats:p